Booth in the Dark
by Gaia 479
Summary: A new story. Booth is in the dark and needs to be rescued before a character from his past can seek revenge on him. Bones is on the case with a little help from the Squints and the FBI. Okay... a lot of help.
1. Chapter 1

_This a brand new case story that will lead Booth anad Brennan to admit their feelings for each other. Somehow it will happen._

_As always, I don't own Bones or any of the characters. Special Agent Donovan is my own._

_Please, enjoy..._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_***_

Special Agent Booth opened his eyes and immediately knew he was blind-folded. His eye-lashes brushed against the material that was bound around his head and it tickled. He wanted to rub his eyes, but he soon discovered that his hands were bound as well.

They were behind his back and he was lying on his side. His left arm was numb and he suspected that he had been in that position for some time. Trying to roll over, it was discovered that he was in a very small, confined space and there was almost no room to move. He felt, with his foot, the bars that held him captive.

The captive lay still for just a second and tried to let his hearing help to discern where he was. There was only silence. He thought that maybe he could hear a drip of some kind, but it seemed very far away and the sound was faint. Almost muffled.

His arm was totally numb, and he wondered how he could get the blood flowing again. He wiggled and shifted until he felt the pins and needles of the returning blood flow shock his sensory receptors back into use. He cried out at the unexpected pain that his motions brought.

It only took a few minutes before both his arms felt normal again. He took a deep breath and thought back to the last thing he could remember before he woke up wherever he was now.

*

_He was in his apartment._

_The phone had rung. Not his cell phone, but his land line._

_It had been a wrong number. He had hung up the phone, thinking nothing of it._

_He had been thirsty and had gone to his fridge to get something to drink._

_There was half a bottle of water that Bones had left there a few days before. He hadn't known why he kept it; perhaps the thought that it was something that had touched her lips had made him keep it._

_He drank the water. Again, thinking nothing his actions._

_*_

That was the last thing he remembered.

Now it was dark.

He was cold. That was one sense that could not be covered or bound. He could feel the cold, chill damp of the air around him. He suspected he might be in a basement somewhere. The smell that permeated his nostrils was one of mouldy, damp earth. He could definitely hear the dripping now. And something else, but his brain was still a little foggy, and he couldn't tell what it was.

He thought of Bones. His thoughts always went to her when he felt danger. He always regretted the things he had never said and the things he had never done. Had he waited too long? NO. He would get out of this mess. One way or another.

He also thought of his son, and how he was supposed to be spending the weekend with him. Parker would be so disappointed when he didn't show up and that broke Booth's heart. He had never wanted to be the type of father that disappointed his son.

Booth had no idea what day it was, or how long he had been unconscious. There was so much he didn't know; lying there in the dark.

He started to suspect that the water he had drunk had been poisoned or drugged. Someone had probably broken into his apartment and spiked the liquid. He really should have gotten a better hiding place for his spare key. That fake rock had apparently failed to fool someone else too. He should have taken Bones' advice on that one.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sound growing louder. It was footsteps, and they were coming closer. It was the sound of heavy boots scraping against a concrete floor. He heard a door open nearby, and the footsteps entered the room where he lay.

Booth lay completely still, pretending to be unconscious.

The sound of a rusty faucet being turned on made him wonder what the hell was going on. He heard the water flow and seconds later his body was showered with cold water.

He could pretend to be unconscious no longer, and he cried out and sputtered when his face was blasted by the water. He heard laughter.

"Thought you might be thirsty by now Agent Booth." The laughter continued, as did the cold water spraying the bound FBI Agent.

The voice that spoke was not at all familiar to Booth, but it was heavily accented, and he felt he would recognize it instantly if he heard it again. He tried to place the accent, but couldn't. It might have been eastern European, but his thoughts were interrupted when the water sprayed him directly in the face again.

When drowning became a real fear, Booth tried to turn his head away from the water blast, but there really was no room to move.

The water stopped as quickly as it had started, and the squeaky faucet was heard again until only the dripping was audible.

Booth sputtered the last of the water out of his mouth and nose and could contain his anger no longer.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want with me?" The sound of his saturated voice surprised him. It was like he was in a dream.

The heavy boots approached him until they stopped near his head.

"We have never met, but you took something from me once. Something very important. Something I can never have back, and now, you're going to pay for it." The accented voice still was not familiar to the man lying bound in the cage.

"What? What did I take?"

"You will find out soon enough. Your son will join you soon."

Booth lost it then.

"If you hurt so much as a hair on my son's head, I'll make you pay. I'll kill you!"

"You are in no position to be making threats Agent Booth. I have no intention of harming your child; I am merely going to make him watch you die. I will be back in one hour with another drink for you."

The footsteps faded away, and the door opened and closed. The steps faded until Booth couldn't hear them anymore.

His brain racked with options, or the lack there of any.

Parker was in danger. He had to warn Rebecca, or the FBI, or anyone. His thoughts went back to the forensic anthropologist who was his best friend. Was anyone even looking for him yet? Bones would be looking. He was sure of it. He sent a plea into the dead air around him...

"Bones! I need you! Please hear me!"

The sound waves of his voice echoed slightly against the walls and he knew that she hadn't and couldn't have heard him.

He shivered in the dark.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_**Meanwhile...**_

Doctor Brennan was in the Medico-Legal Lab of the Jeffersonian. She was in the room affectionately dubbed Limbo with her best female friend, Angela.

She held an old bone up to the light and studied it intensely as the artist played with the tissue markers of the skull on the table. Angela was hoping to have the markers done before lunch, and the full composite sketch of the face done by the time she left for the day. There was no rush really, the bones had been in storage for years now, but Brennan had insisted on her help with identifying the remains.

No other cases were pending, so Angela had easily agreed. The two of them hadn't spent much time together lately, and it was nice to just chat while they worked.

Angela watched her friend study the bone against the light and smiled to herself. Same old Brennan. Put a bone in her hand, and lose her until she put it down.

The artist watched the expression on her friend's face change, and saw the focus fade from her eyes. Brennan's face visibly paled, and she shuddered. The bone fell from her hand and clambered onto the floor.

"Sweetie, what just happened?" Angela rushed to her friend's side and put her hand on Brennan's shoulder.

Brennan looked at her, but there was still no focus in her eyes.

"I...don't know. I just had this chill come over me. I can't explain it..." The blue eyes of the Doctor focused slightly, but they looked nervous to her friend. "I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe there's a draft in here."

Angela was not accepting the explanation so easily. There were no drafts in the Jeffersonian. The temperature and humidity were regulated methodically by computer.

"Honey...are you okay? You are really pale..."

She was interrupted by a knock on the door. The two women turned to see Doctor Sweets with an unknown man in a dark suit standing there. They looked briefly at each other and then Sweets spoke.

"Hello Doctor Brennan... Angela, this is Special Agent Donovan with the FBI, and he was wondering if he could ask you some questions." The psychologist and his companion started to cross the threshold.

Agent Donovan held his hand out to shake with the good Doctor, but she ignored the offered appendage.

"It's nice to meet you Agent Donovan. What can I do for you?"

"Uh, we've met before. You and I and Booth worked a case together a few years ago. You don't remember?"

Brennan shook her head. The dark-haired, light-eyed man continued.

"Well, the reason I am here actually pertains to Agent Booth. I was made aware that the two of you spend a lot of time together."

"We're just friends, and partners." Sweets and Angela noticed how quickly she spewed those words out. A tad bit defensive in both of their opinions.

"I never meant to imply otherwise Doctor Brennan, but you do spend time together right?" Brennan nodded. "I was wondering if you heard from him at all this past weekend?"

Brennan looked to Angela quickly, and she seemed to pale a little bit more.

"No, he was planning on spending the weekend with his son. I haven't spoken with him since Friday afternoon. Is everything okay?"

"We're not sure. It seems nobody has heard from him since Friday, including his ex and his son, and he didn't show up at the Hoover building this morning. We are starting to grow concerned."

"Well, I am of no help. I don't know where he could be."

"Doctor Sweets and I were wondering if you would like to come with us to check his apartment, to see if anything is amiss."

Before Agent Donovan finished the sentence, Doctor Brennan was halfway to the door and already removing her blue lab coat.

In minutes, the three of them were in Donovan's FBI issued vehicle and heading towards Booth's apartment.

Doctor Sweets didn't speak; he just quietly analyzed Doctor Brennan's response to the situation. She seemed slightly agitated, even though she was trying to mask it. Sweets was trained to recognize small and subtle changes in anyone's normal responses to certain situations. Brennan was responding with great concern.

The three of them let themselves in using the key that Booth had given Brennan some time ago. Donovan raised an eyebrow at her explanation that Booth had given her the key for emergencies. He wondered just how much the two of them really meant to each other. Clearly they were more than just friends and partners.

Agent Donovan led the other two slowly into the apartment, calling out Booth's name. They were greeted only by silence.

They all commented that nothing seemed out of place.

Until they entered the kitchen.

Sweets was the first to notice the empty water bottle laying on the floor, by the sink. He reached for it, but both Brennan and Agent Donovan called out for him to stop.

"There may be fingerprints or other evidence on that bottle. If something happened to Booth, this might be our only clue as to what happened." Brennan reached for one of the drawers and pulled out a plastic baggie.

Both men noticed her familiarity with the kitchen and Donovan quashed his smile as he picked up the bottle with his pen and dropped it into the bag being held open by Brennan.

"I should get this back to the lab. If something has happened to Booth, time may be a factor."

She couldn't explain how she knew something was wrong. She just knew.

Sweets and Brennan waited by the door while Donovan did another quick sweep of the apartment. Nothing else seemed out of place. The Agent called the FBI to get the forensic examiners to do a thorough examination of Booth's living quarters.

As Brennan locked the door with her key, she noticed a small brown stain on the doorframe.

It was blood. She knew it was. Her heart skipped a beat.

Something was definitely not right...

Her cell phone rang from her pocket...

**

**

To be continued...


	2. The phone call

_A/n... I do apologize for the delay with this chapter. Thanks Bookwormlady for the poke. I needed that. xo_

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Chapter 2

Brennan pulled her phone from her pocket and took a few steps away from the men to answer her ringing phone. She hoped it was Booth and his disappearance was all some misunderstanding. Some excuse like he had been drinking with the boys, as they say, and lost track of time or something along those lines. Brennan knew that this wasn't the case. That wasn't like Booth.

She was surprised by the person on the other end.

It was Rebecca. She sounded distressed.

"Hi Temperance, I don't have long... I need you to do something for me...."

"I... uh... sure. Anything." Brennan was surprised again. Rebecca had never asked her for anything before.

"Can you pick up Parker from school? It's kind of an emergency... Seeley has you listed as an alternative contact... They'll let you take him..." The woman's voice sounded strained and, even Doctor Brennan, with her limited abilities in empathic matters could pick up that something was wrong.

"Of course I will, Rebecca. Is everything okay?" The anthropologist was a little shocked that Booth had her listed at Parker's school.

"I have to go...I'm sorry... but one more thing?"

"Yes, anything"

"Can you pick him up right away? As soon as you can get there..." Rebecca's voice was cut off and the phone disconnected.

Brennan clicked the phone shut and turned and walked back towards Agent Donovan and Sweets. They both looked at her with the same inquisitive expression.

"I have to go. Something has come up. I'll need a ride back to the Jeffersonian."

"Is everything okay Doctor Brennan?" Sweets picked up on the masked look of urgency on his friend's face.

"I have to go. Can you take me please Agent Donovan?"

The two men looked from each other, back to the woman standing before them.

"I should wait for the forensic team to show up. They should be here within half an hour or so."

Doctor Brennan started to walk away, flipping open her phone again.

"I'll just call a cab."

Agent Donovan started after her and grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She turned back towards him, looking from the hand on her shoulder, to his face. He got the hint, and quickly removed his hand.

"No, Doctor Brennan, why don't you take my vehicle. I'll wait for the team."

She stared at him for only a moment, unsure of his motives. Booth never let her drive. Apparently that wasn't standard FBI protocol, just his. Where was he anyway? What the hell was going on?

"If you are sure, that would be great. I shouldn't be long."

Donovan dug the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. But before he relinquished them to her, he held her hand and made her look him in the eyes.

"Booth trusts you Doctor Brennan. If he trusts you, then I do too. Are you sure everything is okay? We'll find him."

Sweets watched the interaction quietly, and saw a small tear form in the corner of the Doctor's eye.

"I don't know. I just have to go right now. I'll be in contact as soon as I can." She took the keys and turned away completely and walked down the hallway. Before she turned the corner, she turned back quickly, "Thank you Agent Donovan. I appreciate your concern."

Agent Donovan turned back to Sweets when she was gone.

"She's not so cold and unfeeling as some people say she is. My impression of her has changed drastically since our first meeting."

"No, she's not unfeeling at all. She puts on a good facade, but she feels very deeply. Especially when it comes to Booth." Sweets tried to smile, but the thought of what would happen to Doctor Brennan if something happened to Booth was a train of thought he wasn't yet ready to board. They would find him. They had the water bottle, and hopefully the forensic team from the FBI would find something else. Or it would all be some misunderstanding, and Booth would walk around the corner.

Sweets' eyes trailed down the hallway, but no one came.

"Is there something other than a partnership going on between those two?" Agent Donovan leaned against the wall, to wait for the team to show up.

"Not yet." Was all Sweets replied.

***

Doctor Brennan set herself in the driver's seat of the FBI issued SUV and adjusted the mirrors and the seat, taking a minute to get her composure. Why would Rebecca call her to pick up Parker? Was he sick, and she couldn't get there? The tone in Rebecca's voice was disturbing. Brennan felt something inside her that led her to believe that maybe Parker was in danger. This was the second strange feeling she had today. Perhaps her "gut" instinct had finally been revealed to herself. She started the vehicle and pulled away from the curb. She toggled switches until the lights and sirens came on, and smiled to herself as cars flew out of her way as she sped through the streets of DC towards Parker's school. She was outside of the school in no time at all.

She pulled into the parking lot and looked around before she got out. Nothing seemed awry. She didn't notice the man in the car across the street pull away before she left the vehicle.

He was on the phone and speeding away before he had been noticed. He was calling his Boss to let him know that the package they were hoping to acquire had been denied. The FBI was on to them. They had to come up with another plan. The car he was in peeled around the corner as Doctor Brennan exited the vehicle. The tinted windows had kept her from being identified.

Brennan walked into the school and found her way into the office, where she was surprised to see Parker sitting there, in his jacket, obviously waiting for her.

"Hi Bones. Are you here to pick me up?" Booth's son jumped up from the chair and approached her. "Is my Dad with you?"

The secretary behind the desk took in the meeting. Obviously the boy knew who she was. She interrupted before Brennan could speak and answer Parker's question.

"Are you Doctor Brennan?" With an affirmative nod from the woman standing in the office, the secretary held out a clipboard, "I just need you to sign this, confirming you were the one who picked up Parker here."

Doctor Brennan signed the form and turned back to Parker. She gave him a little smile, to which he responded with the same, and she gestured for him to leave the office first.

The two of them walked back to the SUV parked in the lot and Brennan was just a little shocked when Parker took her hand as they walked. She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. She helped him into the back seat and watched as he did his seat belt up. She double checked it and went back to the driver's side and started the engine.

She adjusted the rear-view mirror so that she could see the little, boy in the back seat and she kept an eye on him as they drove back to the Jeffersonian to await word from Rebecca, or anyone. They were silent for a few minutes, until Parker asked his question again.

"Is my dad at the lab?"

"No Parker." Brennan wasn't sure how much information she should reveal to Booth's son.

"Where's my mom?"

"I don't know Parker. She called and asked that I pick you up from school. Are you sick?" Her eyes met the boy's in the mirror.

"No. I'm not sick. The principal called me to the office and said there was someone coming to pick me up. I thought I was in trouble."

"You're not in trouble Parker. I have to be honest; I'm not sure why your Mom called me."

"Do you know where my Dad is?"

"No Parker. No one knows where your dad is. We can't find him, but I promise you, we will."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep Bones. My dad says that." Parker turned towards the window and watched the world fly by.

"I agree with you both on that account, but we have found him before. I'm confident that we will this time too. With both the FBI and the Jeffersonian working on finding him, there's no chance he will be missing for very long. We're the best you know." She hoped her words were reassuring to the boy.

Doctor Brennan pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through until she found the number from which Rebecca called her. She dialled it and waited for Parker's mother to answer, but there was only the sound of the ringing. She waited until a reasonable amount of time had passed and then clicked the phone shut. Where was Rebecca?

"You shouldn't use your cell phone while you're driving you know. You have a four times the chance of causing an accident." The voice from the backseat startled her from her thoughts.

She had no response. She knew the data to be accurate.

"What are we going to do Bones?"

"Well, we're going to go back to the lab and wait for some evidence to be analyzed. Then we're going to find your dad."

"Is Max going to be at the lab? I like Max. He taught me fun stuff about science."

"No, Max is off visiting some old friends right now. I don't know when he'll be back. Hodgins will be there. He has recently acquired some new species of beetles. I'm sure he would be happy to show them to you." She met the boy's eyes in the mirror again, and even she noticed the glimmer in his eyes when she said that.

"Sweet. I like bugs."

"I thought you might." She smiled at Parker, and he smiled back at her. She was confident that she had distracted him enough from the situation for now.

The rest of the drive to the Jeffersonian was silent. Brennan pulled into the underground parking lot and smiled at the gate keeper. He recognized her, even though he didn't recognize the vehicle she was driving. He let her in, no questions asked. He knew that Doctor Brennan rarely conversed with those she felt were beneath her. He didn't take it personally.

They exited the vehicle and made their way to the lab proper. There didn't seem to be anyone around. Doctor Brennan led Parker to the back of the lab, where Doctor Hodgins' new office was. Both Angela and Hodgins were deep in conversation when the two entered, and Parker interrupted them when he saw the tank with the bugs. He rushed over to it and pressed his nose to the glass.

"These are so cool!" His breath steamed the glass he was so close.

Angela and Hodgins both looked from the boy to Doctor Brennan, and she waved off their questioning looks and mouthed the words 'I'll explain later'.

"They are pretty cool hey Parker. Do you know what they're called?" Hodgins made his way over to the tank to stand next to the boy.

"No." Parker waited, he knew the Bug Man would tell him.

"Well, that one over there... his name is Larry, and that one... his name is Curly..."

Parker laughed and gave Doctor Hodgins a half smile, looking very much like his father when he did so.

"Doctor Hodgins. You're funny. I meant what is their science name?"

"Sure Buddy, if you want to know, they are called Geotrupes Stercorarius. Or, more commonly, the dung beetle."

"What does dung mean?" Parker really wanted to know. Everyone else in the room tried to squelch their laughter.

"It means poop. That's what they eat." How Hodgins managed to keep a straight face, the ladies had no idea.

"That is so cool and gross." Parker followed one of the beetles with his finger as it scampered along the glass.

Angela grabbed Temperance by the arm and tried to pull her out of the office, to get some information in private. Before they left the office, Brennan turned back to Parker.

"Do you have to urinate? Or are you hungry? Do you take naps? Do you need anything?"

"Bones, I'm not a baby. I am fine." Parker didn't even take his eyes off the bugs to answer.

"Okay. I'm just stepping out with Angela here; I'll only be in the hallway if you need anything. Do you mind staying with Jack for just a few minutes...?"

"We'll be fine Bones. Doctor Hodgins was about to tell me everything about dung beetles."

Doctor Hodgins grinned at Brennan, and nodded.

The two ladies went into the hallway and walked out of earshot of the two left with the bugs.

"Seriously, Sweetie, what the hell is going on?

Temperance spent the next few minutes filling in her friend on everything that had happened from the time they had departed company earlier and how Parker had come to be in her care.

"What is happening here?" Angela asked the rhetorical question, knowing Brennan had no more answers for her.

Doctor Brennan just looked at her friend and felt the cold shiver again. She really wondered what was up with that.

Parker came out of the room and asked Bones if she would go get his backpack out of the SUV. He wanted to take notes on what Hodgins was telling him. She smiled at him and turned to go towards the vehicle.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Angela asked.

"No. I'll just be a minute. Keep him distracted will you."

Angela went back into the room with the boys and smiled when Hodgins pulled one of the bugs out of the tank and set it on Parker's hand.

***

Booth lay quietly in his prison. He heard the footsteps approaching again. Like Pavlov's dogs, his body was already being trained to associate that sound with what was about to happen. He started to shiver with the anticipation of being doused with the cold water.

Whoever was holding him captive had said nothing more to him, but returned regularly to soak him. This was the strangest torture he had ever experienced. Usually, his captors wanted some kind of information from him, but Booth was not asked a single question.

The door opened and the heavy steps entered the room. The rusty faucet squeaked and Booth braced for the shock of cold water. It hit him squarely in the face, nearly drowning him before moving along the rest of his body. The action went on for longer than usual, the confined man wondered why there was a sudden change in routine.

The water stopped, the squeak of the tap was heard again. Booth swore he could hear some shuffling, and possibly another set of footsteps, but his ears were full of water so he couldn't be sure. The door opened and he expected to be left alone again. He felt a sharp pain in his upper leg possibly from a prick from a needle.

His suspicions were confirmed when he felt himself start to grow drowsy. The door shut and silence filled the room once again. Strange lights started to flash in his eyes and before unconsciousness took him, he heard something else.

A muffled whimper.

He fought the drugs that had been injected in him, and tried to call out.

"Is someone there?" His voice sounded strange to him. Almost like it was echoing.

There were definitely some other sounds in the room that he hadn't heard there before.

"Bones? Is that you? Parker?"

Before he could fixate on the sound, everything went dark.

**

**

**

_To be continued...( a little quicker hopefully!)_


	3. Followed

_a/n...again...sorry for the delay. Another muse has been conceived so... yeah. Please enjoy. _

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_**_

_**_

Brennan walked towards Agent Donovan's SUV, after walking through the door that led to the underground parking lot, without thinking too much about it. Her mind was on other things. Like her partner and where he could possibly be, and what had happened to Rebecca. There was still no word from Parker's mother.

As she reached into the backseat for Parker's backpack, she heard the footsteps approaching her from behind, and without even pausing to consider her reaction, she turned and struck out. In the time it took to blink she felt the connection of her fisted hand to solid human muscle. The surprised grunt reached her ears only a fraction of a second later.

Her attacker reached out to grab her, but managed only to grab the blazer she wore. She spun out of it, and while doing so, her cell phone flung out of the pocket and she looked quickly in the direction of the smashing electronic as it hit the concrete ground. The diversion gave her attacker enough time to regain his composure and he connected hard to her face. It stunned her only briefly, adrenaline and years of martial arts training flooded her reaction time and she managed to reach out and block the second shot that was coming at her.

She then landed a solid connection of the butt of her hand to the man's jaw. His momentum of coming towards her was used against him and the shot had connected perfectly to the cluster of nerves behind his jaw that causes instant unconsciousness. He slumped to the ground, leaving his would-be victim panting with the exertion.

Temperance looked to the man, she didn't recognize him, but she analyzed quickly the bone structure of his face and knew that he was of eastern European descent. It was the structure of his zygomatic bone and Zygomatic process. She had seen similar bone structure when working on identifying remains from a mass grave in Bosnia. This man was from that area, she was almost sure. Conjecture, not speculation.

She brought her fingers to her mouth when she tasted the metallic bitterness of the blood. Her lip was swelling. The man had not moved from where she had knocked him down and she wondered briefly what to do. She couldn't call for help; her phone lay in pieces not far from where she stood.

Her quick, rational mind made the decision to run for help. Her feet turned towards the door before she had made the final decision in her mind, and she ran as fast as she could back into the Jeffersonian. One of the security guards stopped her at the entrance to the Lab, but she brushed him off and kept going. He followed her, knowing that something was wrong.

Brennan paused at the door to Hodgins' room trying to get the attention of one of her co-workers, without distracting Parker from the bugs.

Angela finally caught her waving gesture, and her jaw dropped when she saw the face of her friend. It was swollen and there was blood running down her chin. The artist laid her hand gently on Hodgins' arm and when he looked up from the bugs, he followed Angela's line of site and his jaw dropped too.

Doctor Brennan made the gesture of putting her finger to her swelling lips, and then pointed at Parker. Both of the other adults in the room caught the meaning to her non-verbal communication, and they looked back at each other. Angela nodded to the man, in unspoken knowing, and made her way towards the door.

Angela pulled her friend down the hall a bit before she demanded to know what the hell had happened.

"Someone tried to attack me, but I knocked him out, Ange, he's still down there... this has to be related to Booth...and possibly even Rebecca..." Brennan tried to pull her friend with her back towards the parking lot, but the artist held her place.

"Sweetie! Are you okay? Seriously, just take a minute and tell me what happened. Tell us what happened." Angela amended her statement at the end when she saw the anxious looking security guard approaching, obviously concerned by what was happening.

Doctor Brennan explained what had happened in the parking lot and the security guard immediately flicked on his radio and let the warning be heard by anyone else who was within earshot of the receiving end of the communicating device.

'Doctor Brennan had been attacked in the parking lot and the perpetrator was still there.'

The guard rushed off towards the parking structure after making sure once more that the good Doctor was alright. She assured him that she was fine, but Angela was not so sure.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Angela held on to her friend's arm and made her look at her. She saw the tears form in Brennan's eyes.

"I don't know Angela, something bad is happening here, but I don't know what, first Booth, then Rebecca, now, someone tried to attack me. This is not good Ange..." Brennan had started walking back towards the outer doors of the lab and Angela followed.

"No hon, this is not good."

The two said nothing more as they made their way back down to the parking lot. As they entered the scene of the incident, a few police cars had started to show up as well as all the security personnel who were rushing around trying to determine what had happened. The two women went towards Agent Donovan's SUV, wondering what was happening with the man that Brennan had subdued.

The security guard who had listened to Brennan tell her story in the lab, saw them and came rushing over.

"Ladies, you can't be here...this is officially a crime scene, I'm sorry, but we'll need you to stay back here okay?"

"All I did was knock him out, how does that constitute a crime scene?" Doctor Brennan asked the man, even though her eyes were focused on a police vehicle entering the lot.

It was then that she noticed the barrier to the entrance of the lot had been smashed, and there were police officers gathering around the booth with a blue sheet.

"I'm afraid the man you subdued was not here when back-up arrived, and Gus has been shot to death."

"Wait, who's Gus?" Brennan's attention went back to the man speaking. Angela answered.

"Gus was the man who operated the entrance to the parking lot for the last ten years. You never knew his name? This is so terrible. He was a great man. He had like three grandkids; he always told me all about them. This is so sad..." Angela had tears forming in her eyes as she watched Brennan's reaction.

"I never learned his name... in all this time..." Temperance put her hand on her friend's back. She was bothered by the fact that not long ago, she had seen the man very much alive at his post.

Doctor Brennan started to walk towards the SUV that she had borrowed from Agent Donovan, but she felt someone grab her arm. She turned around slightly to see Angela looking at her with a strange expression.

"What are you doing?

"I need to get Parker's backpack out of the backseat. He's going to need it to take the notes from Hodgins..."

The security guard stopped her from going any farther, with the assurance that he would get the bag for her.

He came back only a minute later, empty handed.

"I'm sorry Doctor Brennan, but there was no bag in the backseat of the car. Whoever attacked you might have taken it."

"Shit." Brennan cursed and turned back to Angela.

"Sweetie, I don't think I've heard you swear before." Angela waited for her friend to elaborate, or respond or anything, but the Doctor just watched the scene unfolding.

She didn't see Sweets and Agent Donovan approaching her from behind, and she seemed startled when Agent Donovan cleared his throat.

"Doctor Brennan, are you okay? Doctor Hodgins said something happened, but he wasn't sure what. He's up in the lab with Agent Booth's son for some reason? Please, Doctor Brennan, I really need for you to tell me everything that has been happening here... I need you to trust me... We all want to find Booth. We have to work together. We found something at his apartment..."

That caught her attention.

"What did you find?" She looked sharply to Agent Donovan.

"There was some blood on the door frame, and also there were some fingerprints on a few random items in the apartment... Now, tell me what happened here. Are you okay?"

"It's not me that seems to be in trouble here..." Doctor Brennan tried to look composed, but she was starting to have doubts that she was okay. She shivered again for some reason, and then told everyone in her company about the phone call from Rebecca and the incident involving the unknown man who attacked her.

Sweets reached his hand out to pat her shoulder, she didn't shrug it off.

Agent Donovan informed everyone that the evidence from Booth's apartment had arrived and analysis could begin on what they had found. Everyone started to make their way back up to the lab with a subdued hush over them. Brennan grabbed Donovan's arm before they went through the door and asked him to send someone over to Rebecca's house to check on the situation there. Something was not right that they hadn't heard from her yet. Agent Donovan agreed...

***

Booth was coming back into the realm of awareness when he heard the rusty faucet squeak. He braced himself for the cold blast that was about to hit him. It didn't happen right away even though he heard the water gushing out of the hose. He was just starting to relax when suddenly the cold water struck him. He wasn't quite braced for it and he found himself crying out just a little. It was the first sound he had uttered in hours. He didn't have any idea how long he had been unconscious and the hours and days and all time in general had gotten away from him. Being in the dark and being soaking wet was starting to have an effect on his psyche. It was a very strange form of sensory deprivation.

He had experienced many types of physical torture before, and he was easily able to find that spot in his mind where he couldn't be affected by the physical pain, but this torture was starting to get to him. He remembered suddenly his last thoughts before he went unconscious. He wondered who was in the room with him other than his captor.

The water stopped as it always did, and he spit out the mouthful that had blasted him in the face.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" His voice sounded strange to him.

As before, the person holding him against his will had nothing to say. The footsteps made their way to the door and then left as they always had before. The door shut and the lock clicked and Booth sighed.

"Who's here?" He waited for a response, but there wasn't one.

He could hear the breathing of the person in the dark, and the breathing sounded familiar, though he wasn't sure how. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. His mind was foggy and his thoughts were fuddled.

A few minutes later he heard the footsteps coming back towards the room he was in. This was different. A change in routine. The door opened and closed and the footsteps stopped very close to his head. Booth waited for something to happen. He was surprised by what did happen.

He felt hands fumbling with the blindfold over his eyes. It was removed, but the Special Agent still couldn't see anything in the darkness that filled the room. He wondered what was happening.

The footsteps moved away slightly and paused.

Without warning the room was flooded with light and Booth cried out as the light penetrated his dilated pupils and sent a pain through to his brain that he had never felt before. He heard a rough chuckle as his ears were unaffected by the light. In time he became more adapted to the light and he slowly opened his eyes and stared at the man in the room. The man had something in his hand, but Booth didn't focus on that, he focused on the man's face. There was something sort of familiar about him, almost like a déjà vu experience.

"Well, Agent Booth, look what I have here. It seems that I have all the chips, as they say. Your final days will be spent in anguish as your son watches you die. And then you will join your Doctor Brennan in hell."

That startled Booth.

"What are you talking about? What happened to Bones? Where is my son...?" Booth stared at the man, and the man stared back. Eventually an evil smile took over the man's face.

"We had to, uh, what is the word; eliminate Doctor Brennan, in order to obtain your son. He is in the other room. He says hello." The man tossed something in Booth's direction.

It was Parker's backpack.

Booth cried out again. He wasn't sure what to believe. There was no way Bones was dead. Was there?

His captor left the light on and departed the room with a laugh.

The soaking wet man shivered uncontrollably and coughed a little of the water out of his lungs. When he opened his eyes again and tucked himself into a fetal position to conserve body heat, he looked across the room and saw the very still form of the mother of his son.

"Rebecca!" He called out, but the woman didn't stir. She looked so pale, and she was also soaking wet. If they had drugged her, then they had given her enough so that she was not disturbed by the cold liquid.

With nothing left to occupy his mind, Booth closed his eyes tightly, and prayed. He prayed for the light to go out. He wanted to be in the dark if the information he had just been told was true. He would rather be in the dark if that's how it would end.

**

**

_To be continued... and that right soon..._


End file.
